JJUA55091U Private International Law
in a Comparative Perspective - NOTE: THE COURSE IS CANCELLED IN THE
AUTUMN SEMESTER 2016

Private International Law is a core subject in the academic
curriculum of legal studies in many countries around the globe. The
importance of the field in a globalised world is quickly growing as
the cross-border trade and the movement of persons and their
families notably increase. Acquiring a good knowledge on how to
legally approach controversies that may arise from such situations
is thus highly relevant. The objective of the course is to present
and familiarise students with the general concepts, problems and
legal framework of private international law. After an introduction
of basic concepts, the course is further divided into twosegments:

(1) the part focusing on obligations, property-related issues, and
business entities

(2) the part dedicated to family matters.

The knowledge on substantive domestic contract, property and
commercial law, as well as substantive family law, acquired by
students during Bachelor studies, would form a basis for exploring,
understanding and discussing private international law issues. The
discussed issues will be presented in a comparative perspective,
covering a number of major jurisdictions, as well as the EU
regulatory framework. The part focusing on the civil and commercial
matters will discuss practical implications of the diversity of
domestic legal regimes for the flow of trade, as well as for
non-commercial obligations and property rights, including the key
issue of legal certainty and predictability. Related evidence
issues, regarding admissibility of the proof of the content of
foreign law will be considered, along with the matters of
jurisdiction, specific for commercial cases (including the
discussion on international commercial arbitration as a currently
largely dominant dispute resolution option, on the wide scope of
discretion of the arbitral tribunals in regard to the selection of
relevant conflict of law rules, and on its practical legal
consequences). Regulatory framework in regard to contractual and
non-contractual obligations, as well as property rights and
business entities will be discussed on the examples of standards
adopted in selected jurisdictions, including Germany, the UK,
France, Switzerland and the United States. The increasing role of
the European Union in lawmaking in the field of private
international law will also be acknowledged; in particular, the
Rome I and Rome II Regulations shall be discussed in detail.

Relevant application of the conflict of laws analysis in civil and
commercial matters will be illustrated by extensive case law
discussion and practiced in a series of exercises in problem
solving and interactive assignments. The course also aims at
highlighting contemporary role of transnational standards, or the
modern lex mercatoria, in commercial relations and their status as
sources of (the knowledge of) the law, as well as their position in
the process of determination of substantive applicable rules
through the conflict of law analysis. In the part devoted to family
matters, an explanation of the main problems of the choice of law
rules will be offered on the basis of some leading cases. Family
law has traditionally been regarded as a subject deeply embedded in
the (legal) national culture.

Private international law in family matters remains, thus, to a
great extent, national law. Giving the lack of comprehensive
material in English language concerning national legislation on
private international law issues, the course shall focus on
specific topics on family law (e.g. matrimonial property regimes,
registered partnerships, cohabitation, same-sex marriages, divorce)
in some selected jurisdictions (e.g. United Kingdom, Spain, some
Scandinavian countries, Belgium). Furthermore, the coexistence, in
some countries, of diverse family laws (e.g. the US or Spain) leads
to internal conflicts of laws within those jurisdictions. In spite
of the predominance of the national character of private
international law in family matters, some EU legal instruments have
been enacted with the aim of seeking harmonisation of
conflicts-of-laws solutions within the EU.

Some of these instruments [e.g. Council Regulation (EC) No
2201/2003 (Brussels II Bis)] are solely focused on rules on
jurisdiction and recognition, whilst others include rules on
applicable law [e.g. Council Regulation(EU) No. 1259/2010]. The
Directive 2004/38/EC on free movement shall also be presented
insofar as it may be relevant in cross-border cases. Furthermore,
in academia, research groups have been devoted at exploring
harmonisation of family law in Euope. The most relevant is the
European Commission of Family Law (CEFL). The academic approaches
on the matter shall be discussed. Finally, some selected
conventions of the Hague Conference of Private International Law
shall briefly be presented.

• Identify, present and apply general concepts of international
private law.

• Recognise and address main problems of the choice of law rule in
civil, commercial and family matters

• Identify and solve issues of jurisdiction, as well as critically
use choice of forum options

• Explain different national approaches to solve selected private
international law issues.

• Explain the framework and functioning of the different EU
instruments on private international law in family matters and The
Hague conventions and put them into perspective in relation to the
interaction with national rules.

• Present and explain academic approaches in relation to
harmonisation of family law in Europe.

• Discuss and critically argue in favour of various legal
solutions, with due consideration to the theoretical framework and
the different sources involved.

Given the absence of a comprehensive textbook on private
international law available in English and not focusing on a
particular jurisdiction, a selection of articles and materials
shall be provided by the instructors.

Students must have
a basic knowledge on national substantive family law, as well as
substantive contract, property and commercial law In addition,
students must have a good
command of English language (course materials and class instruction
will be provided in
English)

Some content of this course
related to family matters will also be discussed at the course
Comparative and International Family Law (marriage, registered
partnership, cohabitation),
although the adopted focus and scope of analysis will be different
and both courses are
supplementary rather than mutually exclusive.